gnathv

Full Access Member
Joined
Oct 18, 2007
Posts
1,048
Reaction score
522
Location
Athens, Al
How much oil did it use after your 200 mile trip home? I would check fuel flow, in tank fuel pickups are notorious for deteriorating into plastic grit that clogs fuel lines and eventually stops flow.

I have used low pressure shop air (10 lbs) to blow back to the tank from fuel line to filter head to open lines back up. Change fuel selector valve to get both tanks clear.

Before I bought injectors I would check fuel flow, if fuel flow is good, put a heavy dose of hot shots diesel additive.

If you could monitor fuel pressure while driving it may help you troubleshoot your problem.
 

IDIBRONCO

IDIBRONCO
Joined
Feb 5, 2010
Posts
12,236
Reaction score
10,925
Location
edmond, ks
Just to clarify it does start right up, probably about to take my girlfriend to get some ice cream in it right now, but if it dies on me while driving I have to pull over and takes a minute to get it going again.
This sounds more like you're having issues with air in the fuel system. Couple that with the fact that it runs fine after getting the air out and continues to do so until the truck sits for several hours. It sounds like your fuel is draining back to the fuel tank after the truck sits. Since it seems to run better off of one tank than the other one, that also sounds like some type of fuel issue that's related to one tank or the selector valve. Note: this is not what's often mistakenly called air intrusion. This is fuel drain back.
Some more suggestions that I forgot yesterday. The first is a good set of aftermarket gauges. The factory gauges aren't anything that resembles accurate. The "standard" three, oil pressure, coolant temp, and voltmeter, are a good place to start. A pyrometer to keep an eye on the exhaust temps is at least as important as those are. It's even more important to have one if you don't have a turbo. A boost gauge is fun to watch after you install a turbo. One that I always recommend is a vacuum gauge as well. That will allow you to keep an eye on your vacuum pump. In case you don't know this, your diesel engine doesn't make as much vacuum as a gas engine does so our trucks use a belt driven vacuum pump to power the power brakes and other things. It's no fun at all if your vacuum pump fails and a vacuum gauge will let you see if it's starting to make less vacuum and that will warn you ahead of emergency time. After you install a turbo, an intercooler of some type is also a good idea.
 

screwhead

Registered User
Joined
May 27, 2022
Posts
44
Reaction score
6
Location
Austin, TX
Some new gauges will be put in as soon as I can, just have to figure out how to do it I guess lol. Thank you again for all the information y’all are super helpful.
 

screwhead

Registered User
Joined
May 27, 2022
Posts
44
Reaction score
6
Location
Austin, TX
@gnathv it does not seem to use very much oil, has only dropped slightly since I did the oil change. It does seem like there’s a fuel leak somewhere on top of the engine, is very slight and haven’t been able to determine if it’s an injector, line, or what. Am also wondering where you are suggesting to blow air through back to the tanks?
 

Attachments

  • D367A213-4DBA-42B0-92AB-FE3C4E9759DD.jpeg
    D367A213-4DBA-42B0-92AB-FE3C4E9759DD.jpeg
    355 KB · Views: 5

Nero

HD Diesel nut
Joined
Jan 3, 2022
Posts
2,198
Reaction score
2,194
Location
OR
All I can say is that if your NA engine was able to hold 75 MPH I doubt there's much wrong internally.
I wouldn't jump to that conclusion so quickly, my dad's truck held 75mph just fine, and it had a broken piston ring. Did burn some oil though.

@screwhead I'd chase the fuel leak, see if that's the issue.
 

screwhead

Registered User
Joined
May 27, 2022
Posts
44
Reaction score
6
Location
Austin, TX
Drove it a little more today and last night, today I drove to auto zone and was holding pedal all the way down to do 35, wanted to try running diesel kleen (already had some) at max strength, got rear tank around 1/4 and filled back up with diesel kleen mix. Switched to rear tank and let it sit in parking lot for a few minutes, revved it a little. Immediately upon driving it drove much better, even took it to the highway and was able to do 75 easily. Also noticed it seems to be smoking less, still some blueish white smoke though on start up and when shifting out of first, rest of the time it was running though very little smoke even at high rpms.

@Nero working on finding fuel leak, pulling glow plugs to inspect, and radiator flush today.
 

Nero

HD Diesel nut
Joined
Jan 3, 2022
Posts
2,198
Reaction score
2,194
Location
OR
Fuel cleaner always works wonders with these systems. Here's to hoping it was just a fluke.

By chance did the mechanic who did the diag ask if you were selling it? From my experience, mechanics who ask that after doing a 'it needs all this expensive work' usually are just trying to scare into selling stuff cheaply....
 

gnathv

Full Access Member
Joined
Oct 18, 2007
Posts
1,048
Reaction score
522
Location
Athens, Al
The brass 90 fitting on the front of filter head bracket. The metal tube goes down to your fuel pump. Blow low pressure air into that metal tube. Do it once the switch tanks and blow into it again. You will here it in fuel tanks. Leave tank caps on loose, if tanks are full it can blow some out if caps are off.

Diesel Kleen and Howes are good, but Stanadyne and Hot Shots will surprise you when it comes to clearing crud out of your fuel system.

If you can find that leak you may have solved most of your problems. When you get it running consistently, then you can experiment with timing.
 

screwhead

Registered User
Joined
May 27, 2022
Posts
44
Reaction score
6
Location
Austin, TX
Could someone confirm for me the placement of coolant drain plugs? My after market radiator has no petcock, just lower hose and I want to make sure I’m draining all old coolant. First photo is where I’m thinking the driver side plug is (next to oil filter) second is passenger side (next to starter) but I’ve found some conflicting info especially about the passenger side drain plug.
 

Attachments

  • 720A89A3-7DE0-4152-AB6E-58B028E06543.jpeg
    720A89A3-7DE0-4152-AB6E-58B028E06543.jpeg
    219.8 KB · Views: 6
  • B728CDAB-8B3E-48C9-A2EE-370C64CD27BD.jpeg
    B728CDAB-8B3E-48C9-A2EE-370C64CD27BD.jpeg
    214.3 KB · Views: 6

IDIBRONCO

IDIBRONCO
Joined
Feb 5, 2010
Posts
12,236
Reaction score
10,925
Location
edmond, ks
Some new gauges will be put in as soon as I can, just have to figure out how to do it I guess lol. Thank you again for all the information y’all are super helpful.
This isn't very difficult. We are here to help and we will give you advice if you want some.
If you can find that leak you may have solved most of your problems. When you get it running consistently, then you can experiment with timing.
I agree. Sometimes it's easy to get excited/upset and make bad/expensive choices. You have to tell yourself to calm down and take it one step at a time. Your most important thing is to get it running consistently like gnathv said. You already like the truck and you enjoy driving it so the initial purchase was worth the extra effort. Unfortunately, a lot of the time, we have to spend some time and money to fix things that have been neglected on our trucks.
I bought the Blue Truck in my signature back in January 2013. I bought it from a friend for the engine/transmission/transfer case. I was dropped off about 180 miles from home with a couple of batteries, tools, and some other small emergency things. I bought the truck, we got it running (it had been sitting for about 2 1/2 years), I bought some fluids that it was low on, and I headed home. I ended up going 50 miles farther from home to visit my brother before heading home the next morning. I didn't care that the speedometer didn't work and there was only a steering wheel with the ignition switch hanging below the steering column. I had just bought it for parts. When I was around half way home from my brother's house, I realized that I really liked driving the truck and it reminded me of my first 85 F250 that I had wrecked almost five years earlier. So I sunk a lot of money and work in it and am still driving the truck and still fixing things that get neglected on old trucks.
 

IDIBRONCO

IDIBRONCO
Joined
Feb 5, 2010
Posts
12,236
Reaction score
10,925
Location
edmond, ks
Could someone confirm for me the placement of coolant drain plugs? My after market radiator has no petcock, just lower hose and I want to make sure I’m draining all old coolant. First photo is where I’m thinking the driver side plug is (next to oil filter) second is passenger side (next to starter) but I’ve found some conflicting info especially about the passenger side drain plug.
Yes that's them. They are easy too find on all later model trucks since they are the only plugs that take a 9/16" socket to remove. Get ready far a mess to happen when you do remove them.
 

screwhead

Registered User
Joined
May 27, 2022
Posts
44
Reaction score
6
Location
Austin, TX
@IDIBRONCO thank you sir, didn’t want to do something stupid today. Do you think the starter should be removed to drain driver side? Seems like I could get to it but I guess it’s recommended to take off not to get starter covered in coolant?
 

IDIBRONCO

IDIBRONCO
Joined
Feb 5, 2010
Posts
12,236
Reaction score
10,925
Location
edmond, ks
@IDIBRONCO thank you sir, didn’t want to do something stupid today. Do you think the starter should be removed to drain driver side? Seems like I could get to it but I guess it’s recommended to take off not to get starter covered in coolant?
Ideally, yes remove the starter. I don't personally because if you drop it to keep the coolant off, then you'll also have to remove the wires and set it out on the ground or the coolant will probably still hit it. Order of draining; radiator, then driver's side of the block, then the passenger's side. That should reduce the amount of coolant that drains onto your starter. Just for the record though, I don't recommend that anyone drains the coolant onto their starter. I do and if you do, then that's on you since I didn't tell you to. CYA!
 
Top